Ultra-high aspect ratio copper nanowires as transparent conductive electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells

Zhaozhao Zhu; Trent Mankowski; Ali Sehpar Shikoh; Farid Touati; Mohieddine A. Benammar; Masud Mansuripur; Charles M. Falco

doi:10.1117/12.2237406

23 September 2016 Ultra-high aspect ratio copper nanowires as transparent conductive electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells

Zhaozhao Zhu, Trent Mankowski, Ali Sehpar Shikoh, Farid Touati, Mohieddine A. Benammar, Masud Mansuripur, Charles M. Falco

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9936, Thin Films for Solar and Energy Technology VIII; 993603 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2237406
Event: SPIE Optics + Photonics for Sustainable Energy, 2016, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We report the synthesis of ultra-high aspect ratio copper nanowires (CuNW) and fabrication of CuNW-based transparent conductive electrodes (TCE) with high optical transmittance (>80%) and excellent sheet resistance (R_s <30 Ω/sq). These CuNW TCEs are subsequently hybridized with aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin-film coatings, or platinum thin film coatings, or nickel thin-film coatings. Our hybrid transparent electrodes can replace indium tin oxide (ITO) films in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as either anodes or cathodes. We highlight the challenges of integrating bare CuNWs into DSSCs, and demonstrate that hybridization renders the solar cell integrations feasible. The CuNW/AZO-based DSSCs have reasonably good open-circuit voltage (V_oc = 720 mV) and short-circuit current-density (J_sc = 0.96 mA/cm²), which are comparable to what is obtained with an ITO-based DSSC fabricated with a similar process. Our CuNW-Ni based DSSCs exhibit a good open-circuit voltage (V_oc = 782 mV) and a decent short-circuit current (J_sc = 3.96 mA/cm²), with roughly 1.5% optical-to-electrical conversion efficiency.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Zhaozhao Zhu, Trent Mankowski, Ali Sehpar Shikoh, Farid Touati, Mohieddine A. Benammar, Masud Mansuripur, and Charles M. Falco "Ultra-high aspect ratio copper nanowires as transparent conductive electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells", Proc. SPIE 9936, Thin Films for Solar and Energy Technology VIII, 993603 (23 September 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2237406

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